Automatic gaff hook



Feb. 20, 19 40. w. R. KEEHN ET AL AUTOMATIC GAFF HOOK 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed April 26, 1938 INVENTORS William R. haehn John A. Doe fer PatentedFeb. 20, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT price AUTOMATIC GAFF HOOK William It.Keehn, Marysville. and John A. V Doerfer, Bellingham, Wash.

Application April as, 1938, Serial No. 204.244

3 Claims.

insures the landing of the catch when the gaff hook is skillfullyapplied.

A further object of our invention provides a hook that will be extremelylight in weight 10 and one that may be actuated by one hand of thefisherman.

A still further object of our invention is to provide a gaff hook thatlocks itself into the fish once the fish has been engaged by the gaff.

Our invention is comprised primarily of a tube having a shaft runninglongitudinally and coaxialiy with the tube and having. a handleassociated with tube. A pair of gaff hooks or a gaff hook and a lockingbar are associated with the base end 20 of the assembly and the shaftsupports and actuates the hook or hooks and the shaft carries lockingnotches that lock the hook or hooks in position and placement when thefish is engaged to thereby provide simple means for maintaining 25 thefish upon the hook or hooks. A trigger is associated with the handlethat is adapted for releasing the shaft to permit and facilitate theremoval of the fish from the hook or hooks. With these and incidentalobjects in View, the 3 invention consists in certain novel features ofconstruction and combination ofparts, the essential elements of whichare set forth in the appended claims, and a preferred form of embodimentof which is hereinafter shown with reference to the 35. drawings whichaccompany and form a part of this specification. i

Fig. I is a fragmentary sectional side view 0 the double jaw gaff hook.

Fig. Ii is a fragmentary sectional side view. of 40 the handle and ofthe grip lever.

Fig. III is afragmentary sectional side view of the singlejaw gaff hook.In this view the lock bar is shown open.

Fig, IV is a fragmentary sectional side View of the lower end of theassembly. In this view the lock bar is shown closed.

Like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the severalviews.

Fig. I and Fig. II show a form of device that is adapted for use wherelarger fish are to be gaifed. In these views we form a central tube Ithat comprises the main central support for the assembly.

A manipulative shaft 2 extends longitudinally of the tube I. A head 3 isdisposed upon the lower end of the tube l and gafiing jaws l and 5 arehingedly secured to the head 3.

This is accomplished by hinged pins ii and i that are fixed relative tothe head 3 and about which the has ends 8 and 9 are attached.

The gaff hooks i and 5. are made in the form of bell cranks and amanipulative head it is disposed upon the lower end of the shaft 2. i

The outer end of the head it is bifurcated and manipulative links i land [2 are hingedly disposed within the bifurcated ends of the head It]and the same rock about journaled pins l3 and 14. The links I l and 12are connected to the jaws d and 5 by hinged pins It and iii, and. ahandle grip ll is secured to the upper end of the tube l and lockingnotches it are disposed upon the outer surface of the shaft 2 andadjacent the end.

A locking pawl it is disposed within. the handle l and the pawl iii isurged toward the shaft 2 and into engaging contact with the notches l8by a reacta-nce'means as a coil spring 20 that is disposed within thebarrel 2!! that is disposed within the handle.

An arm 22 is removably secured to the upper end of the shaft L. Thepurpose of the arm is to manipulate the shaft 5 and to force the points23 and 2 1 into contact with the fish to be gaifed. As the points 23 and24 engage the fish, they are held in locked position by the pawl l9engaging the locking notches l8.

When it is desired to remove the gaff hooks from the fish gaifed, thefinger of the hand engaging the handle ii. is made to engage the releasetrigger 25. in the handle I land is hinged about a hinged pin 25.

A bell crank 2i connects the trigger with the pawl l9. Each end of thebell crank 21 has slots 28 and is disposed therein and the same coactwith pins 30 and it! that are connected respectively to the trigger 2Eand the pawl it.

A guard 32A is disposed about the outer surface of the trigger 25. Amodified form of handle and locking arrangement is illustrated in Fig.II. A handle 32. is provided and finger grooves 33 are disposed withinthe fingering engaging side of the handle 32. A pawl 34 is disposedwithin the handle and the same coacts with and engages the The trigger25 is recessed .with- 5 the spring rests beneath the nut 55. 35

When it is desired to unlock the pawl from engagement with the lockingnotches, the finger of the operator is made] to engage the trigger 4|.The trigger 4| is made in the form of a bell crank and it is hingedlysecured about a hinged pin 42. A link 43 communicates the trigger with apivot bar 44 and a link 45 communicates the pivot bar 44 with thelocking pawl 34. Otherwise the purpose and object of the trigger releaseassembly is the same as heretofore described as disclosed in Fig. I.

Where smaller fish are to be caught we provide a construction asillustrated in Figs. III and IV, and this construction is comprised of atube 46. Tube 46 has a shaft 4! running longitudinally thereof and theshaft 41 is held in alignment and in spaced arrangement by suitablebearing blocks 48 and 49. The blocks 48 and 49 are preferably made of asuitable rubber.

The shaft 41 has a plurality of locking notches 59 disposedupon one ofits edges, and a pawl is provided. The pawl 5| is pivoted about a hingedpin 52 and a reactance means as a coil spring 53 maintains the pawl innormal engagement within one of the locking notches.

A handle 54 is disposed upon the upper end of the tube 46 and a shoulder55 is disposed within the handle.

The shaft 41 passes beyond the shoulder 55 and a nut 56 is threadablysecured to the handle end of the shaft. A coil spring 51' is disposedabout the shaft and one end of the spring rests upon the shoulder 55.The oppositely disposed end of A trigger guard 58 is disposed about thetrigger 5i and protects the trigger. A locking bar 59 is provided. Thelocking bar 59 is hinged relative to the shaft 41 by hinged pin 60. Thehinged pin 60 passes through the locking bar 49 and the shaft 41.

A link 6| is connected to the short end 62 of the locking bar 59. A lug63 is disposed upon the base end of the tube 46. Connection is effectedthrough the use of pins 64 and 65. The base end of the shaft 41terminates in a hook65A and the same is pointed as illustrated at 66 andthe locking bar 59 has a plurality of spaced pins 61 disposed upon itsend and the same are adapted for substantially meeting and straddlingthe pointed end 66 of the hook and to be disposed on either side thereofwhen the same is lowered.

When the fish is gaffed and pressure is exerted, the shaft 41 moveslongitudinally of the tube and simultaneously the locking bar isactuated to cause the points 61 to move toward the point 55.

Simultaneously the spring 51 is compressed and upon the bar 41 thetighter the locking bar will engage the fish gaff.

When it is desired to release the fish from the gaff hook the trigger 5|is compressed and the locking bar 59 will be automatically raisedthrough the action of the coil spring 51.

While the form of mechanism herein shown andv described is admirablyadapted to fulfill the objects primarily stated, it is to be understoodthat it is not intended to confine the invention to the one embodimentherein shownand described, as it is susceptible of embodiment in vari--ous forms, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

What we claim is:

1. In a device of the class described, the combination of a tube, ashaft disposed longitudinal- 1y of the tube and disposed coaxially withthe tube, a gaff hook formed integral with the shaft as disposed at theouter end of the shaft and tube, bearing blocks disposed within the tubeand adapted for acting as bearing for the shaft and for maintaining theshaft coaxial with the tube, a locking jaw disposed at the base end ofthe tube, said locking jaw being adapted for actuation by the shaftdisposed longitudinally of the tube, means for normally maintaining thelocking jaw and the gaff hook spaced apart, a handle disposed adjacentthe top end of the tube, a locking pawl associated with the handle andadapted for coacting with the shaft and for maintaining the shaft infixed placement relative to its move ment in one direction, a triggerassociated with the locking pawl and adapted for releasing the lockingpawl from looking engagement with the shaft when the locking pawl ismanually manipulated. and a spring disposed in the handle for manuallymaintaining the shaft disposed in the tube in a retracted position.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a tube, ashaft disposed longitudinally of the tube and coaxial therewith, a gaffhook disposed upon one end of the shaft, said shaft being slidablelongitudinally of the tube, means for normally maintaining the shaft-ina retractive position, means for locking the shaft when movedlongitudinally of the tube in one direction, a handle disposed upon oneend of the tube, and a locking jaw hingedlysecured to the shaft foractuating the locking jaw when the shaft is actuated into endwisemovement.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a tube, ahandle disposed at one end of the tube, a staff disposed within the tubeand movable longitudinally of the tube, said staff having a gafi hookdisposed upon its end, a. locking jaw hingedly disposed relative to thestaff and disposed at one end of the tube, means for maintaining thelocking jaw inoperative, locking teeth carried by the jaw, and means forreleasing the jaw and for moving the same into locking relationship withthe point of the gaff hook.

WILLIAM R. KEEHN. JOHN A. DOERFER.

